CONGREVE, WILLIAM

born Jan. 24, 1670, Bardsey, near Leeds, Yorkshire, Eng. died Jan. 19, 1729, London William Congreve, oil painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1709; in the National Portrait Gallery, English Neoclassical dramatist who shaped the English comedy of manners through his brilliant comic dialogue, his satirical portrayal of fashionable society, and his ironic scrutiny of the affectations of his age. His major plays were The Old Bachelour (1693), The Double-Dealer (1693), Love for Love (1695), and The Way of the World (1700). Additional reading By far the fullest and most accurate biography is that by John C. Hodges, William Congreve, the Man (1941, reissued 1966). Additional studies include Kathleen M. Lynch, A Congreve Gallery (1951, reissued 1967), a brief account containing an admirable bibliography; Maximillian E. Novak, William Congreve (1971); and Aubrey L. Williams, An Approach to Congreve (1979), setting his works in the context of 17th-century religious beliefs. Major Works: Plays (dates are of first production, unless otherwise noted): The Old Bachelour (1693); The Double-Dealer (1693); Love for Love (1695); The Mourning Bride (1697); The Way of the World (1700); The Judgment of Paris (published 1701), a masque.Poems: The Mourning Muse of Alexis (1695); A Pindarique Ode, Humbly Offer'd to the King on His Taking Namure (1695); The Birth of the Muse (1698); A Hymn to Harmony (1703); The Tears of Amaryllis for Amyntas (1703); A Pindarique Ode, Offer'd to the Queen on the Victorious Progress of Her Majesty's Arms, Under the Conduct of the Duke of Marlborough (1706), which includes A Discourse on the Pindarique Ode.Other works: Incognita: or, Love and Duty Reconcil'd (1692), a novel; Amendments of Mr. Collier's False and Imperfect Citations (1698); An Impossible Thing (1720), a tale.Editions: The Complete Works of William Congreve, ed. by Montague Summers, 4 vol. (1923, reissued 1964), includes his letters and Squire Trelooby and stage histories of the plays. The plays are collected in The Complete Plays of William Congreve, ed. by Herbert Davis (1967); and The Comedies of William Congreve, ed. by Anthony G. Henderson (1982).